Chapter 26

Mo Yu's eyelashes were long, and because of the light rain earlier, tiny droplets clung to their tips, making them look very beautiful. Unfortunately, after hearing the Empress Dowager's words, her eyelashes fluttered, and the raindrop fell, disappearing into the dark night that seemed like an abyss before the Gannu Terrace.

The Gannu Terrace stood in front of the imperial palace, towering a hundred zhang high, made entirely of pure copper, and was a magnificent sight. Thousands of luminous pearls were embedded on the terrace, and from dozens of miles away, one could see the light here. But tonight, these luminous pearls emitted no light at all.

Mo Yu looked towards the edge of the Gannu Terrace, where Heiyang stood in the starlight, head raised, gazing at some point in the night sky. She turned to look at the front of the Gannu Terrace, confirming that the Empress Dowager was also looking at that same spot in the sky, and couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"Your Majesty, what are you looking at?" she asked.

Mo Yu was highly respected throughout the Great Zhou and the entire continent, not only because of her family background and her unfathomable strength, but also because of her relationship with the Empress Dowager. There were fewer and fewer people in the world who could speak to the Empress Dowager so casually.

The starlight fell on the Gannu Terrace, allowing only the silhouette of the woman to be seen.

Just a simple silhouette, yet it seemed to encompass myriad worlds.

Because she was the first female emperor in the world in ten thousand years, the ruler of the Great Zhou.

"Someone has lit a star."

The Empress Dowager said this without turning around, her tone calm.

Mo Yu was silent. Every night, cultivators lit their destiny stars, but she knew that even the Empress Dowager found it difficult to see them. But tonight, the Empress Dowager had seen one and had been watching it for a long time. What did this mean?

"That star is very far away."

Hearing the Empress Dowager's next words, Mo Yu thought she understood.

After a moment, she said, "Even if it's far away... it doesn't necessarily mean it's a true genius."

The Empress Dowager said nothing.

Mo Yu, feeling like a little girl whose opinions were not taken seriously by her elders, huffed a couple of times and said, "Qiu Shan's destiny star was set at the age of four, and it was the Longxiang Star, which can rank in the top ten within a hundred years. But that night, a disciple from a small sect in Bailixi began his bone-washing, and his destiny star was even farther than the Longxiang Star. Could he possibly match Qiu Shan? Bone-washing ultimately depends on the strength of one's meridians, and how could an ordinary person compare to the true dragon bloodline?"

This was a very illustrative example. Qiu Shan Jun had been the top of the Qingyun List before he turned eighteen, a universally recognized genius. The disciple from the small sect in Bailixi had long since faded into obscurity. If it weren't for someone with Mo Yu's broad knowledge, who would remember that person?

The Empress Dowager said, "The person who lit the destiny star tonight has an extremely strong divine sense and a very calm mind, which is quite rare. I fear it might be an old scholar who has studied for a hundred years and suddenly understood the great truths of the universe, leading to this transformation, much like Wang Zhice in the past, who accumulated knowledge and then burst forth, naturally extraordinary."

Mo Yu said, "When Mr. Zhice gathered stars in one night, the entire capital felt it... how is tonight the same? And there is no projection of the star on the ground, indicating it's not a bloodline talent. Even if it's strong, it must have its limits."

The Empress Dowager, without turning around, gave a smile that could be felt: "You, child, what do you know about cultivation?"

Mo Yu, though young, was already a great cultivator at the Star Gathering realm, considered a prodigy by both the Great Zhou and the southern cultivation sects, and even the Pope had praised her highly. But in the eyes of the Empress Dowager, she was still just a child who didn't understand cultivation.

How many people in the entire continent had the right to evaluate her like this?

The Empress Dowager was certainly one of them.

So Mo Yu wasn't angry; she just stuck out her tongue at the Empress Dowager's back.

She was no longer the little girl she used to be, but she could still be cute, especially in front of the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager naturally knew what she was doing behind her and smiled without a word.

Mo Yu walked up and stood beside her, looking at the stars in the night sky. After a while, she suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, do destiny stars really represent each person's fate? Can we see our future fate?"

The Empress Dowager said, "Besides fate, there might be other explanations."

Mo Yu, curious, asked, "What other explanations?"

The Empress Dowager looked into the depths of the night sky, silent for a long time.

There was a distant star that had once shone brightly for a moment and then could no longer be seen.

The Empress Dowager said, "It might also be... a star that counters one's destiny."

...

...

Chen Changsheng lit his destiny star.

Only a very few people in the entire continent had the chance to witness that moment.

Due to the invisible crystal wall, those people's judgment of the distance between the star and the ground was off, but even so, the distance between his destiny star and the ground was already among the top in human history.

In the Snow Elder City of the Northern Demon Clan, the Holy Maiden Peak in the South, the Lishan Mountain where the Longevity Sect was located, and the Wàngchuān in the depths of the demon domain, some might have seen it, and if they did, they would certainly take it very seriously, trying to discover who had lit that star.

But these were not important—there were billions of stars in the night sky, and the connection between them and billions of people was always an untouchable world. The thread connecting them could never be seen, and as long as Chen Changsheng didn't say anything, no one would know.

But accidents always happen, or perhaps there are exceptions.

Some people, whose cultivation realms were not high, should not have been able to see the bright star in the night sky, let alone follow the thread to find Chen Changsheng. But by chance, when Chen Changsheng lit his destiny star, that person happened to be looking at the night sky, just like the Empress Dowager. Even more coincidentally, she was cultivating at the time, with her divine sense spread out into the ruined garden just beyond the wall.

The most fundamental reason was that she had a natural affinity with starlight, allowing her to intuitively discover many things.

This was a talent, more accurately, a racial talent.

On the other side of the ruined wall of the National Teaching Academy was the Hundred Herbs Garden.

That night, she was in the Hundred Herbs Garden.

She clearly felt how calm and resilient the divine sense that lit the destiny star was.

She was very curious about who the owner of that divine sense was.

She wanted to find him and ask him some questions, and for this, she was willing to give him some rare treasures.

Because her name was Luoluo, and she was very generous.